Curve adds 1% cashback – you can double-dip with Visa and Mastercard rewards

Curve Card, the ‘all your cards [unless they are Amex] on one card’ card, has just launched its new rewards program, called Curve Cash.

As a reminder, Curve offers to consolidate your entire card portfolio into one card, letting you pay with a Curve Card and re-charging your preferred linked credit or debit card.

Key benefits of Curve Card for points collectors include:

being able to pay abroad and have the charge re-charged (in £) to your linked miles and points Visa or Mastercard, with either a 0% or a very low FX fee – far lower than the standard 3% on your underlying card

being able to withdraw £200 of cash from an ATM every 30 days and have it recharged as a PURCHASE to your linked Visa or Mastercard (unless it is a NatWest, RBS or Tesco card)

It is particularly useful in combination with rewards credit cards in situations in which retailers do not (or charge a premium to) accept credit cards but do take debit cards.  HMRC is a good example – you can pay your tax with Curve and have it recharged to your linked credit card as a purchase, earning reward points.  Last week we looked at the value of signing up for a Curve Card.

Curve Cash lets you ‘double up’ on your rewards

This new program works in addition to reward programs on your underlying cards.  This means you can ‘double dip’ on spend you push through your Curve Card.

The new scheme offers cashback at many top retailers.  You get different benefits depending on which card you hold:

Curve Blue (the free version): 1% instant cashback on up to three pre-selected retailers for 90 days.

Curve Black: 1% instant cashback on up to three pre-selected retailers indefinitely

Curve Metal: 1% instant cashback on up to six pre-selected retailers indefinitely

You can select the retailers you earn cashback at.   The choice includes top brands such as Amazon, Apple, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, M&S, Pret, TFL, Uber, Gett, Spotify and Netflix. 

A quick back-of-the-envelope guestimate is that a Curve Black cardholder should be able to easily earn £5 cashback per month (50% of the monthly fee) and a Curve Metal cardholder £7.50 (60% of the monthly fee if you are on the £150/year option).

This assumes that your top three choices account for £500 per month of spending (let’s say TFL, Pret and Waitrose) and your top six choices account for £750.

It could be a lot more, of course.  If you have a family and are spending £100+ per week at Waitrose, Asda, Tesco, Lidl, M&S, Aldi or Sainsbury’s then you would generate £5 per month just from your top merchant.

This is a fairly good selection although you should do the maths before you select your retailers.  Netflix and Spotify, for example, would yield fairly low cashback despite their recurring transactions: 1% on £9.99 is only 9p a month.  You are likely to spend far more at supermarkets, Amazon or TFL.

If you use a Visa or Mastercard as your primary rewards credit card – which probably means you focus on the Virgin, Lufthansa or IHG Premium products instead of a BA Amex – you should do the maths to see if Curve Cash makes it worthwhile getting a Curve Card.

If nothing else, Curve Cash should be worth at least £10 to you if you apply for the free Curve Blue if you spend £300 per month at your chosen Curve Cash retailers.  After 90 days, however, the free Curve Blue stops giving rewards.

You can find out more about Curve Card in our full recent review here.

PS.  If you applied for Curve before February 2018, you will remain by default on the old Curve Rewards scheme.  This has a smaller list of merchants but a higher cashback rate.  You can switch to Curve Cash by contacting Customer Services.  This may not make sense for everyone, depending on which plan you are on – you should have received an email in the last 48 hours explaining your options.

PPS. Curve will pay you £10 for trying it out if you use our link.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – October 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month.